Things Unseen
by livid
Summary: REDONE! It's unfortunate, but some are born unhappy with themselves, their bodies, their souls. But we can change for the price of a little spilt bloodSBOC


Disclaimer-This is JK's besides a few character's- if you can't tell which ones then still your hand immediately, flee from your computer and pick up a Harry Potter book.

I decided to add a lot more to the chapter so it would make more sense and be easier to go into chapter 2- but for the three people who read this and the two that liked it, my original chapter is in here as Sirius's reflection on the day.I think it's so much better. Hope you like it.

Sirius Black was in a dark mood. It was obvious from the way he crashed through the _Forbidden Forest _of all places, oblivious to the dangers and creatures that leered at him, waiting patiently for that _one_ glorious moment when he became aware of his vulnerability. Then it would be highly amusing to watch him panic, spinning madly around in hopes of finding a way back to that wretched castle, cursing at his own stupidity. And_ that_ would be the time. They, from all different sides, would crawl towards him like something out of hell and he would be frozen with terror, shrinking to the fetal postion, his arms wrapped over his head as they got closer and closer until...

Well, that was all wishful thinking on the monsters' part because Sirius Black wasn't a complete idiot. He knew his way around here like Hogwarts...well, almost anyways. But at this point he knew where he was going and that was all that mattered.

"Ohhh...shit!' he exlaimed, stepping back and clutching his cheek. Maybe he should have been paying a bit more attention to what was right in front of him. The boy had been slashed across the cheek by a low hanging branch. The cut bled freely down his face to the jaw line before he used his sleeve to stop the trail of blood. He looked at his sleeve with disgust. Sirius didn't even want to think about the left side of his face.

And then he did what anyone of us would have done: he kicked that blasted tree, muttering obscenities under his breath. After stripping away a fair amount of bark, panting heavily like a dog, he sat down on the grass, leaning against that very tree. Raging at the innocent oak had done him some good, though. Rubbing his eyes, Sirius thought about what happened in the common room.

"I didn't over-react. Moony doesn't know what he's talking about, he's so sensitive, like a bleedin' _girl_. And since when does Prongs care about other people's feelings? First day back in our last year ends up a disaster. She was so clumsy anyways and I was shocked and annoyed I mean really, doesn't she have eyes? Stupid girls, no wonder guys from other houses don't date Hufflepuffs, their such immature duffers..." Sirus ranted on for a while longer, like a madman, with the gesticulations to match. As he calmed down a bit, he reflected on that day. It had started out so well.

It was in the train station. Cold outside with a God's tears pounding on the window like an angry fist, outside retaining the ambience of a funeral. But the inside was bright and bustling with life.

Life. How strange some people take it for granted. While so many of the living don't have a real life at all.

But you cares about such things on a day as glorious as this? Hell no, the weather wasn't the reason. The rain would have drowned out the cheer of most, but that doesn't go for the the group of boys strutting ever so casually passed the many huddles of people.

"We've been here for nearly 10 minutes and we haven't heard about Lily Evans? The world must be coming to an end or something," said an exhausted looking boy, his pale brown hair breezing over his forehead.

"Lily isn't my biggest concern at the moment, Moony, " James replied with a twisted kind of smile. The others look startled. But the black haired boy with circle framed glasses didn't elaborate, hazel eyed focused on the approaching platform that you and I could never see.

"Gotten over Lily, have you mate?" asked a malfaesance with hair like ebony, and eyes a dusty gray. Sirius Black, then in a rather cheerful mood, was intrigued by his friend's hasty change of heart. What had happened since last week to have changed a Marauder?

It's strange how one can stumble upon a so-called "coincidence"? The girl in question was only a few yards away, light catching her gleaming locks of deep, dark red. She wasn't beautiful or anything- her hair was her most attractive quality by far. But she was rather pretty, not curvy but tallish and thin. And those emerald eyes were inhumanely piercing.

She turned around and settled them on James, distaste creeping up in her face.

"What Potter?"

"Who says I came wanting to talk to you? If you haven't noticed, you're blocking the way, so would you be so kind as to move over a bit?" James asked, one eyebrow raised. She was startled to say the least,but shifted her apparently offensive position none the less. The others followed Prongs on board the train.

"You told her! What got into you?" Peter gushed, his mousy body practically twitching with supressed excitement. Sirus looked at Peter with a fleeting look of repulsion.

"You know Wormtail, it's kind of sad how you can get so excited over one detail in another person's life." He then turned to James."Met some other girl, right?"

" Of course, Padfoot. Just last weekend. And she isn't as stuck-up as Evans or as sickeningly perfect either," James said thoughtfully.

_My God, James _has_ moved on. 'Bout time, Evans was making him rot away-it was a bit pathetic._

"It's Jasmine Tasser"

That was a shock. You would never see them as a couple for the mere fact that the thought would never come to mind. Status wise, she was in that in-between place, prom queen nor geek. But she was the master of paint and paper, and had gained hordes of admirers for her talent. And she was very pretty- more so than Lily.

"Do I hear wedding bells in the distance?" Remus piped up.

"And the cry of a baby- whichever comes first," Sirius smirked.

"Please, we haven't even gone out yet. She's really cool though,in a freaky artistic sort of way. Plus, I was tired of Evan's constant bitchiness towards me."

They sat around in their compartment, eating chocolate frogs and making up lude jokes like teenage boys do. Eventually they ran out of things to say and sat around in comfortable silence.

Sirus sighed and got up."I'm going to take a walk." He clambored out of the compartment and strided carelessly. He nodded in recognition to several other people, causing a few girls to blush. Sirius rolled his eyes. He was flattered by the attention, but found it rather pathetic. He tried to avoid girls who swooned too much in his presence. Such as Natasha Klyne, who happened to be a few yards away

"Srius!" she squealed, running towards him. He cringe, looking around desperately for a means of escape. Having looked in vain, he turned to her a attempting to smile. The result looked more like a grimace.

"Hi Natasha, had a good summer?" he asked, really not caring if she did or didn't.

"Oh, it was amazing. We went to Paris, my mum and sisiter and I and we went shopping. Oh, I bought the most _gorgeous_ robes you have ever seen, I swear, one was red and made of silk and fit me incredibly..." Natasha ranted on and on as Sirius stared mesmorized at her lips. How they move so fast and spew so much useless information without pausing for a breath was beyond all comprehension. He came back to earth with start. The blasted girl was still going.

"Er, Natasha, I've got to go..."

"Oh Sirius, I didn't even tell you the best part." She said, grabbing the boy's arm with a grip that took him by surprise.

"No, really..."

"Oh come _on _Sirius, what could be more important? Anyways, I found this gastly stain in one of my lovely robes, so mum just marched down there and told that stupid sales woman that if she didn't give her a refund that she could just take that tawdry piece of crap and-"

"Natasha" he said through gritted teeth, his expression suddenly a touch more sinister. "Would you be kind enough to give me back my arm?" His voice was polite but cold. She relented in a hurry. He gave her a curt nod before watching her scurry off with a look of repulsion on his face.

_Could she be anymore ditzy? And her mum's not a muggle, she could have just said _Scourgify _and the bloody stain would've come out in a second. Such feather brained snobs, possess no common sense. _

Shaking his head, Sirius returned to his compartment, his desire to mingle quite satisfied. It was inevitable, his popularity coupled with his looks, that he would have another encounter with some other desperate girl, and he didn't want to lose his temper. Sirius Black was a very impatient person.

A minute later, he slid open the door.

"Where's James?"

"Went to see Jasmine."

"Oh."

Sirius threw himself down on the seat and looked out the window as the countryside sped by.

In few hours, the boys were shoving a ridiculous amount of food in their mouths in the Great Hall after the Sorting. Sirius actually half paid attention this year, being that it was his last. He generally never took notice, except on two occasions: his own and his brother's. Let's just say the results of the latter were more discouraging (to Sirius) then that of the former. Sirius came out of his own thoughts as the subject of quidditch came up.

"I heard some blokes from Egypt want to start a Quidditch team."

"Are you serious, Wormtail?"

"No, he is."

The boy in question raised an eyebrow.

"God Peter, who even _says_ that anymore? They killed that joke in first year." Peter cheeks flushed slightly.

"Just thought it was a good oppurtunity to revive it. Sorry."

"Going back to quidditch, I think they should just stick back to flying carpets," said Remus quietly.

"Here, here!" the others whole heartedly agreed.

It was then that disaster struck.

Little Meredith Dolt (yes, she was cursed with such a horrid last name; a few seconds later it became apparent that it was quite fitting) was hurrying with a goblet in her hand to a good friend in Gryffindor. She was extremely proud of herself at the moment, having successfully transformed her pumpkin juice into acid after _many _failed attempts. To her, it was not only a personal victory, but one for her whole house. Hufflepuffs were not exactly known for anything- Gryffindors had their courage, Ravenclaws intelligence, and Slytherins their cunning.

_But I'll prove them wrong. _

This thought only helped fuel her already roaring fire. She was only a few feet away when...

She tripped ungracefully. Not enough to fall but the contents of the goblet spilled. All over Sirius's robes. He howled as it made contact with his skin. He leapt from his seat as the acid hungrily tore at his flesh, Remus coming to his aid as everyone in the Great Hall watched, frozen.

"You stupid girl! Are you blind, or just a klutz? Why are you carrying something like that in your goblet anyways? God you, could kill someone with that. What is it anyways?"

The girl quivered as Sirius snarled, towering above her. Luckily, her vision was becoming blurred from the tears that burned her eyes.

"A-a-acid," she said, trying to hold back the wails that tore at her throat. Meredith's whole body convulsed with emotion.

"Come on Padfoot, Madam Promfrey's coming," Remus said in a low voice. It was true that she had rushed over looking concerned.

"Come on, we need to get to the Hospital Wing immediately, I've got a potion for this..."

Sirius was led out of the Great Hall, whispers following. But he hardly noticed, between the pain and the anger he felt. The next thing he knew was that he was in a bed, Madam Promfrey fussing over him, dabbing some foul potion to what was left of the skin in an area slightly above the knee.

"Well, you'll be fine in an hour or so, but I want you to stay the night, and Mr. Black, I'll take NO arguments," she said as Sirius opened his mouth to object. But realizing argument was useless, he promptly closed it, not feeling up to an argument at the moment. And Dombledore had just come in.

"I trust you have everything under control, Poppey?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh, he'll be all right, but he's staying for the night."

"Ah, I see. I'd just like to talk to Mr. Black for a second, if you don't mind."

"If you must," she said with a sigh and left. Dumbledore turned to Sirius.

"That was quite a show for the first night back, even compared to the pranks you've pulled. Though undoubtedly you know the most exciting things in life are completely unexpected."

Sirius merely grumbled.

"You know, Ms. Dolt is quite upset. And sincerely sorry about this whole incident."

"Well she should be!"

"Remeber Sirius that she is younger than you and hopes there won't be too much animosity between you and her. It would do her some good to hear a kind word from you. Keep her feelings in mind. Good night, Mr. Black," Dumbledore said, a hint of amusement in his expression before he got to his feet.

"Oh, and Mr. Black, there are a few people who would like to see you."

James, Peter, and Remus came in, all looking concerned.

"Padfoot, mate, you all right?" James asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright, but I'm staying overnight," Sirius said wearily.

Once they all confirmed that Sirius's life wasn't in mortal danger, Remus asked in a quiet voice:

"Sirius, don't you think that you were a little harsh on that girl?"

Sirius stared at him, incredulously.

"She practically burned a hole through my bloody leg!" he exclaimed.

"I know, but she was really upset. I mean, she's only a little kid and I don't think you had to yell at her like that."

"I can't believe you. Prongs, you don't think I over-reacted, right?"Sirius asked looking at his best friend, already knowing he would agree.

"Well, er, um... maybe you, er, I don't know...

"Just say it already!"

"I think you should apologize!" James blurted out, not quite meeting Sirius's eye.

"You're joking."

"I think they're right," Peter squeaked and Sirius immediately shot him a dirty look before turning his gaze back to Remus and James.

"If that's the way you feel, you can just leave," he said in a quiet voice.

"Don't be a prat, Sirius-"

"Just go away," Sirius snarled. James opened his mouth angrily, but Remus hushed him and dragged him out the room, Peter lagging behind. Sirius lay back down on his pillow.

_Some friends they are._

An hour passed before Sirius looked at his leg. It was completely healed. Anger still raged in him and just laying in bed wasn't helping.

_Oh, what the hell._

He got up and crept out the door softly, grabbing his wand from the desk beside the bed. This wasn't the most intelligent thing to do since he didn't have James's invisibility cloak ar the Marauer's Map, but Sirius was good at slipping into the shadow. And, amazingly, he made it through the door without incident. Sirius slipped across the grounds and disappeared into the forest.

This brings us back to the beginning. Sirus, in retrospect, wondered now if he was a bit mean to the Dolt girl and guilt crept into his mind as the anger subsided slightly.

_God help me, I'll apologize tomorrow._

But before he could give this more thought, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Something was watching him. Sirius got to his feet, wand poised. He stood frozen, eyes darting in all directions, his back to the tree.

A twig snapped.

He wheeled around to his right and the spell he hadon the tip of his tonguewas stuck in his throat.

Hecould onlystare transfixed at the horror before him.


End file.
